Manuel L. Quezon III
As the hearings in the Supreme Court on the martial law petitions take place, many hope to find out what ought to have been put on the record weeks ago—namely, what factors contributed to President Duterte’s decision to impose martial law in Mindanao.
THE problems of the arts and culture sectors in this country are multifarious, and there is no doubt that those of us cultural workers who are at the bottom of the totem pole can only believe in the possibilities of change, and look forward to it, too. Many of us try and work towards that change, but if cultural work is your bread and butter – and you’re not one of the lucky ones who comes from privilege to begin with – then you have no choice but to compromise along the way, work with institutions and hope to change these, be critical of the ways in which our creative freedoms (usually all we have) are disrespected or abused.
Nesreen Cadar Abdulrauf-Hadjirasid
Marawi is a sleepy, idyllic and cold-weather city in Lanao del Sur. The lone city and 39 municipalities surround Lake Lanao; that is why residents are called Maranao—“people by the lake.”